Airline to provide more seats from Japan, despite declining market

Delta shocks Guam with exit from market effective January, 2018. New routes to Nagoya and Incheon were added in 2017.
Pacific Daily News

In this Sept. 29 file photo, pilot trainees from Japan Airlines did touch-and-go procedures at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport. The airline will increase the number of flights between Guam and Narita in a few months, according to the Guam Visitors Bureau.(Photo: Jerick Sablan/PDN)

Japan Airlines in a few months will increase the number of flights between Guam and Narita, according to the Guam Visitors Bureau, which last weekend wrapped up a large familiarization tour intended to stop the decline in visitor arrivals from what has been the island’s top tourism market.

The announcement of more airline seats between Japan and Guam comes after two locally-based airlines announced plans to reduce or end service to Japan.

Delta Air Lines in September, citing low demand, announced it will stop flying between Guam and Japan, with its last operating date on Jan. 8, 2018. It stated it will continue its service to and from Saipan and Narita, as well as Palau and Narita. The airline has been on Guam more than 30 years.

United Airlines early next year will stop flights between Guam and Sapporo, Japan, and reduce the number of flights between Guam and other Japanese cities, United Airlines President Scott Kirby announced in an October email to United employees. The airline cited a sharp decline in traffic as the reason.

Kirby stated the airline will reduce the frequency of the routes between Guam, Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya and Sendai, but didn't say when that would happen.

United will continue its Narita-Guam route, the airline stated, but some flights will use smaller planes, with about half the seat capacity of the usual planes for that route. Kirby said the airline will keep its airline fleet in the region so it can add service quickly if market conditions improve.

Narita flight

Japan Airlines will operate a second daily flight to Guam from Narita, beginning March 25, 2018, according to the Visitors Bureau.

The airline currently operates a daily flight that leaves Narita in the late morning and arrives on Guam mid-afternoon, with a return flight to Narita that leaves Guam late afternoon.

“Japan Airlines has been flying to Guam since 1970, bringing millions of Japanese visitors to our island paradise,” “said GVB President and CEO Nathan Denight. "We were pleased by their announcement of a second flight from Narita to Guam and would like to thank Japan Airlines for their continued confidence in our destination.”

Japan decline

Fiscal 2017 saw a record-breaking number of tourists overall, despite a decline in Japanese visitors for 11 months of the year. The difference was made up by a surge in South Korean visitors, which surpassed Japan arrivals some months.

The tourism agency is projecting a further decline in Japanese visitor arrivals for fiscal 2018. Initially, GVB anticipated 685,000 but now is projecting a 13.9-percent decrease, to 590,000. The agency is expecting a similar downward trend for tourists from Taiwan, China and the Philippines.

Price, competition from other destinations and the impact of threats by North Korea have been cited as reasons for the decline.

The Visitors Bureau, working with local tourism-related businesses, last week hosted a group of about 400 travel agents, media and social media influencers from Japan.

It included a trade show and a welcome fiesta at the Plaza de España. Intended to address the decline in Japan arrivals, the event was tied into the 50th anniversary of tourism on Guam, which the Visitors Bureau said started in May 1967.